Support NeoGAF

[Mrbob]

Awesome. Will pick up.

I saw the PC version at Best Buy a month ago for 10 bucks, held off for the eventual steam sale. Glad I waited!

On a similar note of a console game on PC using the 360 pad, I'm halfway through Ghostbusters right now and its great. Total fan service to those who loved the movies, auto detects the 360 controller and maps everything right away. Good fun. I would recommend this game when it goes on sale again during the holiday sale. Heard the PC version was buggy, but I have yet to run into any glitches. Fun game.

 

[Des0lar]

I can't spend money on more games until the holiday sale. Then I go bankrupt.

 

[TouchMyBox]

Excellent, never noticed any bugs and performance is great. Used a 360 controller and it worked perfectly.

In other news, looks like Steam's got a new compeitor. Microsoft, are finally going to be selling PC titles through their GFW Live marketplace. It'll be restricted to GFW Live titles, and launching with RE5, Red Faction and a few others as well as special GFW Live versions of World of Goo and Osmos. You can use either points or a credit card, which is kind of nice as you can often stock up on cheap Live points, so it could mean some decent savings if pricing is decent. Press release here:

http://www.microsoft.com/games/en-US/community/newsarticles/pages/gamesondemandcomingsoon.aspx

Most importantly, does this mean that people will finally be able to earn 200 nerdpoints from the very excellent World of Goo?

I'm half surprised that they're actuall doing this even though they promised they would, as the entire GFWL initiative has been a joke. (Hey, MS, I'm still waiting for you to certify the Red Faction patch that will make the game semi-playable)

 

[brain_stew]

Most importantly, does this mean that people will finally be able to earn 200 nerdpoints from the very excellent World of Goo?

I'm half surprised that they're actuall doing this even though they promised they would, as the entire GFWL initiative has been a joke. (Hey, MS, I'm still waiting for you to certify the Red Faction patch that will make the game semi-playable)

It seems that way, yes.

Hopefully they start porting XBLA titles to the service, and follow through with the whole "Live anywhere" spiel they were pimping a couple of years ago.

Hopefully they'll finally add friends list and chat support to their standalone client, which is just a huge waste of time atm. There's decent potential for the service if Microsoft would just pull their finger out.

 

[Archie]

It seems that way, yes.

Hopefully they start porting XBLA titles to the service, and follow through with the whole "Live anywhere" spiel they were pimping a couple of years ago.

*crosses fingers for Shadow Complex and Trials HD*

Those are games I would gladly double dip on.

 

[brain_stew]

*crosses fingers for Shadow Complex and Trials HD*

Those are games I would gladly double dip on.

Well in an ideal world, one purchase would get you the game on both paltforms, the 360 is just a closed box PC afterall. Wasn't that what they were suggesting was the eventual end goal of the initiative way back when? Purchase the game on your PC, and play it on any Live device (Zune HD, 360, PC etc.) you like. Now that would get me to sit up and take notice of the service, wonder if they add XNA indie games eventually?

 

[Stallion Free]

*crosses fingers for Shadow Complex and Trials HD*

Those are games I would gladly double dip on.

Oh god I have been hoping for Shadow Complex to show up on PC in some form for a while now. Is Trials HD that different from the Trials on Steam though?

Also, Splosion Man please. I loved The Maw.

P.S. - Preferably on Steam with Achievements

 

[Archie]

Oh god I have been hoping for Shadow Complex to show up on PC in some form for a while now. Is Trials HD that different from the Trials on Steam though?

Also, Splosion Man please. I loved The Maw.

P.S. - Preferably on Steam with Achievements

The PC and XBLA versions of Trials play fairly differently. The PC version is also rougher around the edges presentation wise.

Also, I remember reading a Microsoft Summer of XBLA promo and they stated that Splosion Man was a 1 year XBLA exclusive, so we will probably get a PC and PSN version next August or so.

 

[brain_stew]

Oh god I have been hoping for Shadow Complex to show up on PC in some form for a while now. Is Trials HD that different from the Trials on Steam though?

Also, Splosion Man please. I loved The Maw.

P.S. - Preferably on Steam with Achievements

Not played 'Splosion Man, then? Its probably the 360's second best exclusive behind Crackdown in my book. There's an insane amount of content for a little $10 game as well.

 

[Stallion Free]

Not played 'Splosion Man, then? Its probably the 360's second best exclusive behind Crackdown in my book. There's an insane amount of content for a little $10 game as well.

Well the devs earned an insta-buy from me for The Maw, but I figured since The Maw came out on PC, Splosion Man would too so I decided to wait... and apparently I have to wait till next summer

Archie, thanks for explaining the Trials differences.

 

[DodgyGeezerFella]

Tomb Raider Underworld, any known Windows 7 problems with this ? The game froze (repeating sound) when i got to the Kraken's first tentacle, then went to desktop with a "stopped responding" error.

 

[K.Jack]

Has anyone picked up Gratuitous Space Battles yet? I'm interested in some impressions.

 

[Mrbob]

Tomb Raider Underworld, any known Windows 7 problems with this ? The game froze (repeating sound) when i got to the Kraken's first tentacle, then went to desktop with a "stopped responding" error.

Did you try running the game under Vista or XP3 compatability mode?

 

[K.Jack]

Osmos is soo good. Best $2 spent in a while.

 

[Peronthious]

Has anyone picked up Gratuitous Space Battles yet? I'm interested in some impressions.

There is a demo.

I enjoy the game, but it's not something for everyone. If you don't like plugging a bunch of characteristics into some ships and then watching them go at it, you likely won't enjoy it.

 

[Fredescu]

In other news, looks like Steam's got a new compeitor. Microsoft, are finally going to be selling PC titles through their GFW Live marketplace.

Woah. I'm surprised they're still acknowledging the existence of PC gaming.

 

[Kosma]

Waaaaaaaaaaay too late MS. Just put those games on Steam/D2D/Gamersgate.

 

[Shard]

So Braid apparently dropped in price recently as is now going for 10 USD.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/26800/

 

[Firestorm]

It seems that way, yes.

Hopefully they start porting XBLA titles to the service, and follow through with the whole "Live anywhere" spiel they were pimping a couple of years ago.

Hopefully they'll finally add friends list and chat support to their standalone client, which is just a huge waste of time atm. There's decent potential for the service if Microsoft would just pull their finger out.

Totally agree. Especially on making their client unshitty. Damn. If I saw this I wouldn't have bought Osmos on Steam. I want my Live achievements Not to mention my stack of point cards I got on sale.

 

[Kosma]

Microsoft are really slow retards, this should have happened a year or two ago.

 

[Archie]

I wonder if MS will allow Allards to be used to purchase games. You could load up on cheap points cards and get some games at a decent price. Right now I'm very dubious about this initiative since GoD is such a joke on the 360 and I don't see much improvement considering how MS neglects PC gaming.

 

[Kosma]

If MS was really serious about PC gaming theyd make some ports of their 360 games (Forza seems made for the PC audience, just as Too Human), now they are just throwing some half assed bone to PC gamers.

 

[Shard]

If MS was really serious about PC gaming theyd make some ports of their 360 games (Forza seems made for the PC audience, just as Too Human), now they are just throwing some half assed bone to PC gamers.

They tried that in 2007, it didn't work out too well, I am looking at you Viva Pinata PC.

 

[Kosma]

Pinatas failure has nothing to do with MS ignoring the PC market with their own games, its all about making the 360 a valid option for PC gamers.

 

[Javaman]

Woah. I'm surprised they're still acknowledging the existence of PC gaming.

Most of their games listed are already on Steam..

http://www.microsoft.com/games/en-US/community/newsarticles/pages/gamesondemandcomingsoon.aspx

The launch lineup will include recent hits like Resident Evil 5 (Capcom), Red Faction: Guerilla (THQ), and Battlestations: Pacific (EIDOS), as well as new exclusive LIVE-enabled versions of popular digital games like World of Goo and Osmos, distributed by Microsoft Game Studios. All games can be purchased either by credit card or with Microsoft Points. Games on Demand for Windows will be available in markets that currently support the Games for Windows — LIVE service.

LTTP MS, LTTP

 

[Diablohead]

I love gfwl so far, was worried that it might just die off but with this latest bit of news I still have hope. Tbh since I brought my new pc which can play games at a nice upgrade to my 360 I'm trying to buy gfwl over the console versions where I can, have dirt 2 on the way, batman etc soon too.

 

[Brazil]

For some reason, I get the message "game unavailable" when trying to load Evil Genius on my Windows 7 64-bit.

And I still wasn't able to fix the "stuck at initial loading screen" problem in Overlord (Raising Hell) I mentioned a few pages back. I actually have more than 4 hours of game time registred in my Steam account - and all that time was spent waiting for the game to load.

Any tips on any of these issues?

 

[Javaman]

For some reason, I get the message "game unavailable" when trying to load Evil Genius on my Windows 7 64-bit.

And I still wasn't able to fix the "stuck at initial loading screen" problem in Overlord (Raising Hell) I mentioned a few pages back. I actually have more than 4 hours of game time registred in my Steam account - and all that time was spent waiting for the game to load.

Any tips on any of these issues?

Did you verify the files inside steam?

 

[Brazil]

Did you verify the files inside steam?

You mean through Steam itself?

I actually reinstalled Overlord and Raising Hell twice, and the problems persist. Didn't try anything like that with Evil Genius yet, though.

 

[xKilltheMx]

Talking about Evil Genius, just started my playthrough 2 hours deep now. Great game, and a great value at 2.50.

 

[MisterAnderson]

Started TRU and am pretty impressed with the visuals so far. It's no Uncharted but they really nailed Lara's character model and some of the textures look pretty impressive. Max settings with 60 FPS is really nice.

Aside from the obvious awesomeness of Uncharted's gameplay improvements over Tomb Raider's, I feel especially spoiled from Uncharted's voice acting after playing 5 minutes of this game. Having said that, I'm having fun with it and for someone who especially hate's underwater levels in video games, I found the opening ocean section to be one of the better underwater levels I've played in recent memory. I suppose it helps that she can somehow swim like a dolphin, lol.

 

[pilonv1]

Microsoft are really slow retards, this should have happened a year or two ago.

Can you imagine how awesome an Age of Empires collection on Steam would be? I would die of happiness.

 

[rollingstart]

I would rebuy Halo 3 at full price if it was ported to the PC and gave me the ability to change that ghastly FOV of the 360 verison.

 

[Zaraki_Kenpachi]

Man, this makes me mad I didn't get tomb raider anniversary when it was cheap before.

 

[Hasphat'sAnts]

Started TRU and am pretty impressed with the visuals so far. It's no Uncharted but they really nailed Lara's character model and some of the textures look pretty impressive. Max settings with 60 FPS is really nice.

http://i46.tinypic.com/2rr7yhe.jpg

http://i46.tinypic.com/34fo6bn.jpg

http://i50.tinypic.com/5z43lz.jpg

http://i50.tinypic.com/w80ow3.jpg

Aside from the obvious awesomeness of Uncharted's gameplay improvements over Tomb Raider's, I feel especially spoiled from Uncharted's voice acting after playing 5 minutes of this game. Having said that, I'm having fun with it and for someone who especially hate's underwater levels in video games, I found the opening ocean section to be one of the better underwater levels I've played in recent memory. I suppose it helps that she can somehow swim like a dolphin, lol.

Bah, that cleavage looks awful.

 

[Stallion Free]

Aside from the obvious awesomeness of Uncharted's gameplay improvements over Tomb Raider's, I feel especially spoiled from Uncharted's voice acting after playing 5 minutes of this game. Having said that, I'm having fun with it and for someone who especially hate's underwater levels in video games, I found the opening ocean section to be one of the better underwater levels I've played in recent memory. I suppose it helps that she can somehow swim like a dolphin, lol.

Uhhhhh. No. Do not compare Uncharted to Tomb Raider. One is third-person shooter, the other is a platformer.

And honestly, TRU on PC looks better than Uncharted 1 to me. By a lot.

 

[ClovingWestbrook]

Ok, Valve seriously knows how to play psychological warfare with its customers. So I just go to the Steam homepage and what do I see? SNOW falling! You may be asking "So what?", well that means the TRUE holiday sale is only a few weeks away!!! Ughh. I truly am their bitch and I don't know how to get away, nor if I even want to

 

[MisterAnderson]

Uhhhhh. No. Do not compare Uncharted to Tomb Raider. One is third-person shooter, the other is a platformer.

And honestly, TRU on PC looks better than Uncharted 1 to me. By a lot.

Both games contain a mix of third-person shooting, platforming, and puzzle solving elements so I don't see why I shouldn't be able to compare both games. Not to mention they both feature an artifact seeking protagonist. And while I was more referring to Uncharted 2 (but to your credit I said simply "Uncharted") I have to say that aside from the better resolution and AA I'd go for Uncharted 1's visuals over TRU, but it's close. UC1 did have HORRIBLE tearing issues, though, and on PC I always play with Vsync/triple buffering which works wonders.

 

[Stallion Free]

Both games contain a mix of third-person shooting, platforming, and puzzle solving elements so I don't see why I shouldn't be able to compare both games. Not to mention they both feature an artifact seeking protagonist. And while I was more referring to Uncharted 2 (but to your credit I said simply "Uncharted") I have to say that aside from the better resolution and AA I'd go for Uncharted 1's visuals over TRU, but it's close. UC1 did have HORRIBLE tearing issues, though, and on PC I always play with Vsync/triple buffering which works wonders.

TRU has lock-on aiming and is far more focused on platforming than combat. Uncharted is a straight up shooter with bits of platforming. The only real comparison is themes that the games share. I wouldn't really call those puzzles in Uncharted 2 either, you just match stuff to your diary.

 

[MisterAnderson]

TRU has lock-on aiming and is far more focused on platforming than combat. Uncharted is a straight up shooter with bits of platforming. The only real comparison is themes that the games share. I wouldn't really call those puzzles in Uncharted 2 either, you just match stuff to your diary.

I'm not denying the obvious differences both games have, but at the same time you can't deny the obvious similarities they have and shouldn't act so surprised when the games get compared. I understand they are different games, and was mainly expressing comparisons with the graphics and how much of a difference really good voice acting makes in a game (which Uncharted has in spades).

 

[Mrbob]

I read on a windows 7 forum from MS support tech you need to run TRU in Windows XP SP2 compatibility mode to get it to run properly.

 

[MisterAnderson]

I read on a windows 7 forum from MS support tech you need to run TRU in Windows XP SP2 compatibility mode to get it to run properly.

I'm running Windows 7 64-bit and haven't messed with any compatibility settings and it runs fine (so far).

 

[Chiaroscuro]

Wait, is MS starting to use GFWL in a meaningful way? Can't be true.

No, not completely:

Games on Demand for Windows will be available in markets that currently support the Games for Windows — LIVE service.

So they are restricting the service to where Live is available for the Xbox 360 (maybe a little more than a dozen countries). No match for Steam availability.

They have to restrict the availability because the service is tied to the Xbox 360 service (uses the same gamertag) even that LIVE PC is free to play, and could not rely on geographic restrictions.

I only hope they will not start IP blocking the service.... I have an USA gamertag, and it would save me the trouble of VPN...

 

[brain_stew]

I wonder if MS will allow Allards to be used to purchase games. You could load up on cheap points cards and get some games at a decent price. Right now I'm very dubious about this initiative since GoD is such a joke on the 360 and I don't see much improvement considering how MS neglects PC gaming.

Already confirmed that you can, which like you say, has the potential for some pretty nice deals.

They tried that in 2007, it didn't work out too well, I am looking at you Viva Pinata PC.

Well the issue there was expecting Viva Pinata to do anything but utterly bomb, just as it did on the 360. Something like Forza on the other hand, now that actually has the potential to sell well on the PC platform.

 

[Minsc]

What's with the super-awful self shadows in TRU? I downloaded the demo, put shadows on high, and it's a freakin' blotchy mess, worse than some games from 2004. At times it looks ok, but when you first start the game, the shadows are awful.

I'd have expected better in this kind of game.

 

[brain_stew]

What's with the super-awful self shadows in TRU? I downloaded the demo, put shadows on high, and it's a freakin' blotchy mess, worse than some games from 2004. At times it looks ok, but when you first start the game, the shadows are awful.

I'd have expected better in this kind of game.

Bugged the crap out of me as well. Its console limitations passing over to the PC version sadly, a shame as the visuals are really great outside of that.

 

[Mr Cola]

Ive not been with steam long but is there a good chance for a second sale the days leading up/after christmas, or was the sale last week the only significant cuts we are likely to see?

 

[brain_stew]

Ive not been with steam long but is there a good chance for a second sale the days leading up/after christmas, or was the sale last week the only significant cuts we are likely to see?

Every year there's a huge sale on boxing day week. Everything sees a price cut and there's usually some insane deals/bundles to be had.

There'll still be the usual weekend + midweek madness sales as well.

 

[Diablohead]

Finally we are starting to see the stress get to lara after her 20th tomb raid.

 

[Rubezh]

The Games on Demand side of the Games for Windows Live client won't roll out until December 15, but it'll launch with a handful of games, including Resident Evil 5, Red Faction: Guerrilla, Battlestations: Pacific, and new GFWL-enabled versions of World of Goo and Osmos. A free game--a GFWL-enabled version of Tinker--will also be offered.

When I thought about GfWL games on demand, I was thinking Halo 2, Gears of War, Viva Pinata and other games that Microsoft has either developed or published. This is a bit of a joke since all of these games are already available on Steam. Who in their right mind in the GfWL department came up with this idea? :lol